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Harbeth SHL5 compared to Merlin VSM ?

How do these compare for midrange purity on vocals,
even poorly recorded ones that may be too close-miked
without sounding mechanical or distorted?

I also want to avoid shrieking-sounding female vocals (say,
Diana Ross/Supremes) or pumping, loose bass.

Looking for something that can be somewhat forgiving
of older pop/rock recordings without driving me up the wall
(say with Beatles, Motown).
Aerial 10Ts and Apogees used to be very good at this,
along with some classical.

I am no longer looking for a bag of Audiophile tricks that
seem to make the speakers listenable only on very-high-grade
recordings. I just want to use my good old CDs
(on an EMM SE digital front end with an Edge NL12.1 amp).

Other speaker suggestions are welcome too.

Thank you very much for any help.
rgs92
rgs92 OP
974 posts
 
About ATC, my configuration leads me to use passive, not active speakers. (Longish speaker cables, short, Stealth Indra
ICs.) How are ATC passives or in passive mode, if they do that? Which models? Thank you.
martykl
3,578 posts
 
IMHO Sbank has it right but I'd re-state it differently.

The Merlin is more revealing, slightly leaner in the mid bass, and more
extended in the deep bass.

The Harbeth is warmer and more forgiving.

I own Merlins and have auditioned the Harbeths extensively. IMHO, both are
excellent in their own way, but their ways are sufficiently different that a
choice should be straightforward on audition. I prefer the Merlin, but from
your list of issues my guess is you might go the other way.

Good Luck

Marty
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,477 posts
 
Rgs92,

In passive, I'd suggest SCM19 or SCM20 used (try to get the SL version). The bigger models are better active - so I wouldn't go passive with any of them.
bobbyapalkovic
729 posts
 
rgs92,
what vsm are you talking about?
the mme and mxe sound imho, very different than earlier versions in a sense of fullness/room filling, smoothness, expanse and focus. they also sound more relaxed which would be benefitial on much of your recorded music mentioned above.
with your gear gear i would recommend the vsm mme over the mxe.
best regards,
bobby
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